Change Of Heart
by ElenaxoxoSilber
Summary: Having a sheltered life of a Princess was all Katerina Petrova ever knew, she never wanted to leave it. Now, after one night that forced her away from her family she must be transformed into normal American Elena Gilbert, who has a secret.  All human .
1. The Dinner Party

**A/N: Hello all! And welcome to my story :] So I tried doing this a total different way with different characters, and then it came to me last night that I should do this in vampire diaries form. Lol so I hope you guys like it a lot! For any of you that might be confused, they are all human. No vamps in this, just using the character names/traits/etc. And for the record, there isn't going to be a KaterinaxStefan or KaterinaxDamon. It'll change in the next few chapters, you'll see. They'll be a new OC. Please review and enjoy! **

_Chapter One:_

_The Dinner Party_

_All The Right Moves by OneRepublic_

"_Because when its going good its going great" – Eminem_

"I'm really going to miss this." Caroline Forbes, my best friend for life, sighed as we strolled through the local park. The sun was shining up high in the sky. By the looks of it, it was late afternoon. The air was warm and bearable. Today was one of the last days of summer and it was putting Caroline and I into a funk.

"I will miss it too. Very much." My white dress was lightly blowing from the wind. The layers of tulle blew back behind me, I held it down.

"I'm going to miss days like this. Walking around aimlessly, doing nothing. This sucks." My blonde friend groaned. We had spent the summer together, there was no doubt we would both be upset when she had to go back to school. We didn't like schedule change. Everyday for the past two and a half months we'd come here, to the park, and sit under the big oak tree until we could see the stars come up. I didn't bother answering her back, I continued on looking around the surroundings. The green grass was gently blowing in the summer breeze. Dogs ran to catch Frisbees and tennis balls their owners threw for them. Some stopped to drink water at the nearby pond. Somewhere off in the distance, a pair of squirrels chased each other up and down the trees. Nearby, a group of kids played catch and their parents were sitting on a bench.

"Good afternoon, Princess." A young woman who was playing with her little girl waved to me. Princess? Oh, I might have forgotten to fill you in about that. Well, long story short, I'm the princess of a small country off the coast of Bulgaria. It's name? Sanctus Croatas, but everyone calls it St. Croatas. That's pronounced Crow-a-tass. It's the only country in the area that has two main languages, English and Bulgarian. It minors in Latin. Well, that's enough for the history lesson, coming back to present day, I looked at the child who could be no older than four.

"Good afternoon." I flashed a smile and a small wave to the girl. She waved her small hand towards me.

"Say hi, Margaret." The mother cooed. Caroline and I walked away after faring a goodbye.

"I'm figuring you didn't know who that was."

"Not a clue." I shook my head.

"Even without the crown you're so recognizable." Caroline laughed but I could sense the slightest bit of annoyance in her voice. It was a bother at times with people saying hello every time we stepped out of the un-guarded areas. Though Caroline was always the one who grew to love attention, she had grown to understand and deal with everything that came along with being my best friend. We'd been friends since we were both in diapers; she had plenty of time to learn. Hey, I was just happy my father didn't believe in bodyguards since our country was so safe. At least we didn't have some large man watching us over like a hawk. I was kicked out of my mental tangent when I noticed Caroline kick off her flats and sit down on the grass.

"What are you doing?" I asked, watching her dip her feet in the pond.

"Letting go." She simply replied. I looked at her for a good five seconds before I shrugged and unbuckled my silver heels, placing them beside me when I sat down. I placed my perfectly pedicured feet into the warm pond water and cringed when they hit the muddy bottom. Caroline kicked her legs up and down forming a splash; I tried blocking the spits of water that hit me.

"Why does summer have to end so early? I don't want to start junior year. That means just one more year closer to going to college." She tucked her naturally wavy hair behind her ear. In frustration, my friend stood up and walked farther into the pond.

"I mean yeah college, awesome and all but—"

"Caroline, what on earth are you doing." I giggled, placing my hands on my knees.

"Oh come on, Katerina, have a little bit of fun!" She twirled around, her sundress twisting with her.

"You may go ahead, I'll stay here." I held back a laugh. Caroline walked towards me and grabbed my hands.

"No!" I protested. Being Caroline was much stronger, she pulled me up easily and swung my around.

"Caroline, sto—" I began until my hands slipped from Caroline's and I landed in the water.

"Oh my God!" Caroline held back a laugh and ran over to me.

"Help me up!" I demanded.

"I'm so sorry!" She put a hand over her mouth.

"No you are not." I pouted. She leanded me a hand but instead of using it to stand up, I pulled her in.

"That's so unlike you!" She splashed me with pond water, now soaking my hair. Reminding myself that this was childsplay and very un-royal like, I stood up.

"We ought to get out, people are staring." I insisted.

"A little fun never hurts." She rang but I got out of the pond anyways. I looked up to the sky, which was now a blazing shade of blue, pink, and orange. St. Croatas was known for their beautiful sunsets, I'd always love to go sit out on my balcony and watch it.

"Wait one minute, what time is it?" I turned to Caroline as she was ringing out her wet hair. She looked at the watch on her wrist.

"Almost seven thirty." She looked at me suspiciously.

"Oh my God, we've got to go!" I picked up my heels instead of putting them back on since I couldn't run in them.

"What? Why?" She threw her shoes on.

"The end of summer party! It starts at seven thirty!"

"Do you want me to call a taxi?" Caroline offered as we were running out of the park.

"No, that would take to long. Just look at the streets." I told her while we reached the sidewalk and saw almost bumper-to-bumper traffic. The castle was three and a half blocks down and considering the little amount of time we had; I knew I couldn't make it. I winded and twisted throughout the streets with Caroline behind me the whole time. Cars honked and people waved to me. My shoes dangled in my hands as I ran. I crossed over to Shadesberg Avenue, the street right before my home. The buildings lessened as I ran, more homes appeared. I could already see hundreds of cars lining up waiting for valet to park them. All the lights in the castle were on and I could already hear people talking. People were coming out of their cars in fancy gowns. I would be in a big heap of trouble if I was late to this. How did the always manage to happen? Once we were out of the city area, Caroline and I finally crossed over the bridge of the castle. The servants, who acted as valet boys for now, looked at me strangely.

"Princess?" One looked at my dripping wet clothing and hair then he looked to Caroline. I stopped in my tracks.

"Hello." I smiled and began running off again.

"We obviously can't go in the front door, where should we go?" Caroline searched for a door.

"There's a door over there." Thankfully, it was the staircase that lead up to the hallway my room was in. We sneaked our way to the side of the castle and I opened the door. We walked up the winding staircase and finally got to my floor.

"Was that like a secret staircase or something?" Caroline tiptoed down the corridor.

"Possibly, I have just learned of it the other day." I replied. I opened the door to my room and a wave of comfort and safeness washed over me.

"Ooh, sneaky." She commented.

"You're attending tonight, right?" I put my shoes down beside the vanity.

"I forgot about it, I didn't bring anything to wear." She said. I walked into the bathroom quickly and stripped my wet dress. I covered myself in a brown silky robe and walked out moments later.

"Well of course you may borrow something of mine." I walked her over to my closet and then I myself made my way over to my vanity, which was my make up table. Once I was able to figure out how to turn the blow dryer on and how to work a curler, thanks to Caroline, I quickly got ready making my hair into big curls. This was all new to me being since my maids did my hair and makeup.

"Oh!" Caroline squealed from inside my closet. I heard her walk out and I turned to her while I still held the burning curling iron in place.

"I'm wearing this once, you know if you don't mind." She announced showing me a floor length, silk blue gown.

"Nice choice." I nodded. "It matches your eyes."

"Has anyone seen Miss Katerina?" A woman's voice echoed out from the hallway. I capped the mascara brush when a knock at my door alarmed me.

"Princess?" The voice called.

"You may come in." I rang. Sneakily, I moved my wet heels underneath the vanity. My door opened and the head servant Pearl looked frantically at me.

"Katerina, we've been looking for you everywhere." Pearl said.

"Did you check my room?" I smirked. She pursed her lips not finding me amusing.

"When will you be ready?" She eyed my robe.

"I apologize, I will be ready in a few minutes. Tell my mother Caroline is attending too." I told her and she closed the door when she walked out. I brushed my lips with a shade of light pink lipstick and finished it off with a coat of lip-gloss. I puckered and pursed my lips together. I got up and opened the door to my closet, which was so big it was like another room. On the right and left sides, my clothes hung. One side was for my fancy dresses and the other was for everyday dresses, skirts, and blouses. Straight ahead was the side that ahead that displayed all my jewelry, shoes, and two tiaras. That was my personal favorite. I walked over to the left side where my dresses hung and I attempted to choose one out of the many. There was to many to choose from! But, one was sticking out better from the rest. I picked up the hanger of a very poufy, strapless, purple ball gown. The rhinestone and beaded bodice sparkled in the light coming from the ceiling. The pickups of the dresses were established with beads and rhinestones smaller than a pebble. I shed my robe and stepped into the dress trying not to trip on all the layers of fabric.

"Caroline, may you please come here?" I called.

"Yes?" She stepped into my closet.

"May you please tie the back?" I turned around and waited for her to tie the corset back.

"There." She announced and I turned to her.

"Well don't you look pretty." I flashed a smile to my friend.

"Thanks, you do to." She giggled. I sat on the chaise lounge sofa while Caroline put on my diamond necklace and earrings while I slid on a pair of my black heels. I walked over to where my tiara sat on a blue velvet pillow and I picked it up. I gently placed it on my head and arranged my hair to make it look pretty.

"Ready?" Caroline questioned.

"Ready." I replied.

A glass of champagne occupied almost every guests hand as they headed into the main ballroom. Caroline and I hid behind a flight of stairs and it's wall.

"I see the Salvatore boys are looking extra delicious tonight." Caroline noticed the two brothers looking dashing in tuxedos.

"Agreed to that." I smiled absentmindedly.

"If you had to choose from Brad Pitt or them, who'd you choose? Keep in mind that this isn't when Brad was going through that creepy phase."

"Them. Definitely them."

"I call Damon." She winked.

"Why call just one? Why not have both." I giggled. Soon enough Stefan and Damon disappeared inside the ballroom along with the rest of the crowd. The guards shut the big, wooden doors to the ballroom. Soon enough, as Caroline and I tip toed down the stairs the door to the study room opened revealing my parents.

"Mother, Father." I called. A smile swept across my face.

"Katerina! And good evening Caroline, I didn't know you were coming tonight. You both look marvelous." Both my parents kissed me on the cheek.

"Thank you." Caroline returned.

"Sweetie, do you know where your brother is? I could not find him anywhere, along with you." My mother held back a smile.

"Not a clue, I'm sorry."

"Do not worry." She sighed.

"So, did you two have fun today wherever you ran off to? I have heard word of that you were running back here very late." He cocked his head. My cheeks reddened.

"We'll be discussing that later." He smiled.

"Fine." I sighed. Trumpet like sounds rang from the ballroom.

"Now announcing King Elijah and her majesty Queen Lucy." A man announced. The ballroom doors opened and my parents went through. A wave of loud applause as my parents sat down and waved. The doors shut.

"I found your brother." Caroline nudged me. Mason Petrova, my loving older brother, came running down the hall. He was late, again.

"Sorry Kat, may you fix my tie." He fiddled with the piece of fabric half on half off.

"You're late." I complained, retying the tie.

"Sorry, sorry. I fell asleep." That was the same old Mason, falling asleep in the middle of the afternoon. Typical.

"Here, I am done." I announced.

"Oh thank you." He pushed his bangs out of his face.

"Announcing Prince Mason Petrova." The same man said and once again the big doors opened.

"Right on time." He gave a thumb up before disappearing through the doors. Caroline, used to the routine already, fixed her hair one last time while I fixed my dress and hair. I readjusted my crown and took a deep breath in. Nothing to be scared of, I've done this hundreds of times. But the closer and closer they came to announcing my name, the more nervous I got. Why was I nervous? I was Katerina Petrova, I had nothing to worry about.

"And finally announcing Princess Katerina Petrova accompanied by Miss Caroline Forbes." The doors opened revealing Caroline and I. We walked into the room and roars of applause flooded the room. The long table was filled with guests that stood up and clapped. Even some of my servants and some unfamiliar guards did the same. Almost immediately, Caroline and I spotted Stefan and Damon and gave a flirtatious wave. Damon waved his fingers at us while Stefan graciously smiled. We then took a seat next to my brother.

"Attention, attention." My father, who sat at the head of the table with my mother, stood up and tapped his glass with a silver fork. All eyes came to him.

"Welcome one and all to the end of summer ball. If you have never been to this before, this is a time to celebrate and rejoice while we all get together once again. Now let us all sit, converse in conversation, be merry, and eat!" My father concluded and sat down. The first course was brought out by at least fifty servants holding silver platters.

_**Elena's Note: (Also for the record that's my name, it's just a coinsidence), Please review lovely readers!) **_


	2. Lord Niklaus

**A/N: Hi! Sorry I haven't updated since November -.- I lost faith in this story yet again since there was only 1 review but a lot of my stories took a few chapters to get more reviewers! So, we'll see. I'll be posting 2 chapters today (so please review both if you will). **

_Chapter Two_

_Lord Niklaus_

_People Help The People by Birdy_

"_For some moments in life there are no words." –David Seltzer_

The clock tower had just struck, alarming us that time had crept up and it was already midnight. The event had felt never ending, and we were just finishing up our dessert. Though I was not tired yet, talking to strangers was growing old. Caroline had made her way over to the Salvatore brothers a while ago and eventually came back with a smile on her face.

"Princess, where will you be attending school this year?" Mrs. Carol Lockwood, the mayor's wife had asked me.

"My brother and I are being homeschooled."

"And what about you Miss Forbes?" She turned to her.

"I'm attending the Kingsway School. It's right down the road."

"And you are both in your eleventh year." A different guest asked.

"Correct." I moved the left over food on my plate around with the sterling silver fork.

"Ah, very interesting, and how marvelous how you two have stayed friends over the years! And without going to the same school, it must be a challenge." The first guest said.

"Very remarkable. How did you two meet again?" The second guest cut in. "Caroline's mother used to be a head guard for my mother. We met one day when she brought Caroline into work here when we were very little."

"Oh that's simply wonderful!" One remarked. Mrs. Lockwood was about to speak again until suddenly, multiple gunshots sounded. It all happened so fast that if you had blinked, you would have missed it. At that same moment the gun shots were fired, there was a sound of an explosion and the floor to ceiling window had shattered before my eyes. Smoke filled the air making it impossible to see. Pieces of glass, big and small, plummeted to the floor and onto the table. Screamed proceeded to follow and I quickly got up from their chairs. A bomb had just gone off, we were being attacked. By my side, Caroline's terrified face was the only visible thing I could see. Black and grey smoke rolled in and more gunshots fired.

"Where are they?" The sound of a man with a British accent yelled out in anger.

"Kat, what's going on?" Caroline shouted. Her usual calm blue eyes were filled with fear. As were mine.

"I don't know! Where is Mason?" I coughed from smoke inhalation. My brain wasn't registering everything fast enough. Something worse was about to happen; I could feel it in my stomach. That happened ever so often when something bad was coming up, I'd get that same feeling. As the smoke began to clear out, I could see the man who was screaming such horrible things. Lord Niklaus-my uncle, my father's brother. He was dressed in his uniform, which appeared to look like it was from the 1700's. He didn't need to be holding a gun to let me know that he was the leader of this, his army of what he called 'loyalists' behind him were clutching onto big ones. Knives were tucked away in their belt loops.

"I want them all dead! All of them!" Klaus yelled out. He always had a temper. But this time, his words scared me. Charging towards Klaus' army, some of my guards and servants went to go risk their lives. But me being me, I just stood there in shock. Where was brave, risk taker Katerina? She couldn't just disappear during a time like this. Grabbing Caroline, I forced her to run with me. My heart beat echoed in my ears, it was louder than the gun shots and the innocent screams.

"Mason!" I screamed, my eyes gazing over the crowd for him.

"Mason!" Caroline joined in. There was no answer. What is Klaus had gotten to him already? I want to break down and cry so badly, but I continued to be strong.

"Katerina! Katerina! Where are you?" I heard him shouting and I ran into his direction. Once I was in his view he ran to me. He grabbed my right hand, and with Caroline holding onto my left, we ran searching for a place to hide. "

Take them, now!" I heard my mother's voice. She was directing the orders to an unfamiliar guard who I spotted when I walked in.

"Mother! Mother! It's Niklaus!" I cried as we ran toward her.

"Trust him! Go with him!" My mother demanded, ignoring my comment.

"And take this." She yanked off her lapis lazuli necklace and put it in the palm of my hand. The guard who had been with my mother had taken Mason and my hand, leaving Caroline behind.

"Caroline!" I yelled. There was another explosion, yet another bomb had gone off. The ground shook and Caroline fell to it, and soon enough, she was lost in the crowd.

"Kill them! Kill them!" Klaus demanded with venom in every word he spoke.

"Mason, Katerina! Don't bother running I will always find you. I will find you!" Klaus yelled. The mysterious man who took my hand led us down a corridor and into a secret door behind a bookcase. I had to stay calm. I had to stay calm! I couldn't break down now! Tears trickled down my face.

"Elijah! Please! Get up!" My mother yelled. My father, he was hurt. He had died.

"Father." I whimpered. None of this could be happening. I wouldn't believe this. This was a dream, a terrible nightmare. I needed to wake myself up, but I had a feeling that I was already awake. Tears were streaming down my face and I put my hand over my mouth to keep my sobs concealed.

"Shh, we have to be quiet or else he'll find us." The man ordered. Mason held me up since I could barely stand. People were dying in there and we were standing here! My parents, for all I know they were dead! And Caroline, she was probably dead! The guard had taken my hand into his grasp once again and we began running down the dark and eerie secret corridor. I was literally running for my life. With one free hand, I picked up all the layers of my dress so I didn't trip on them. All three of us then proceeded to run down a flight of stairs and then we open another door that lead outside. I blinked a couple of times to get the tears out of my blurry vision. In that same second, I caught a glimpse of Mason and noticed he was crying too. But he was keeping quiet. His eyes were red and puffy but I could tell he was trying to stay strong. He squeezed my hand and I replied by squeezing his back. We ran onto the pavement and suddenly we were on the side of the up another flight of stairs outside, I found a helicopter awaiting us.

"Get in." The man declared. I climbed in with Mason quickly following behind. The man sat down in the front with the pilot and buckled his seat belt, so did I. After flipping multiple controls, we were off into the air. I didn't know what to do. So I cried onto Mason's shoulder until I couldn't cry anymore. I looked down into my hand, which was clenched tightly together. After opening it, knuckles and palms bright red, I looked over the necklace that had been placed over my mothers neck minutes ago. My thumb ran over the design and I hid it back in my palm.

The sun was blazing down and it was early morning. We had landed on an abandoned island somewhere and I watched as the man waved to the helicopter that was flying away.

"Who are you?" I finally spoke to him.

"My names Slater Myers."

"Slater?" I looked at him.

"I didn't pick the name." He harshly answered.

"I'm going to be cutting to the chase and tell you outright that I have never heard of you once in my life."

"Good to know. Well long story short, I work for a company similar to the C.I.A, do you know what that is? You've must have heard of it in some movies."

"I've heard mom and dad talk about that before." Mason whispered.

"So why would we be here? Why are our parents not?"

"I promise I'll explain everything sooner or later. Just, follow me." Slater, or Major Myers, or Lieutenant, or whoever the hell this strange man was directed.

Ten or so minutes later, we were greeted by a large building that we hadn't seen before, it was covered by greenery. The front doors were made of steel, and there was a keypad on it. He typed in a seven-digit number and then the doors automatically opened. In front of us was a nice lobby. There was no way this was real, it was quite possible I was dreaming. Did I die? Was this some heaven? There was a woman at the front desk that looked to be in her late twenties. Her light brown hair was left down and her crystal blue eyes were hidden behind square framed glasses.

"Mornin' Vanessa." Slater greeted. She looked up from the book she was reading and gasped.

"Morning Slater Oh my...I'll call Rose." She nodded.

"No need." A tall British woman walked into the room, her heels clicking along the way. Her spikey short brown hair went off in different directions and it bounced as she walked. This must be Rose. Her green eyes had shifted from Mason to me, and then back again.

"Very good major." She smiled, her brows rising.

"Vanessa, would you do me a favor and take the boy to level B?" I will meet you down there in a few minutes." Rose nodded. Vanessa got up from the desk and took my brother away from me.

"No, no. What is this? Where do you think you are taking him?"

"You will see him after." Rose informed, clearly impatient with me already. Vanessa gave me a look of sympathy and took him down another hallway. It was silent for a few moments until I spoke up.

"Is this some type of prison?" I looked around. Rose laughed.

"Of course not, Katerina."

"Then what do you want with me? Why would I be here? Why did you take me away from my country?"

"We want to protect you and your brother. We took you away because it wasn't safe there. That is stage one."

"Stage one? What is next?"

"How can I say this so you understand it…total makeover."

"Excuse me?" I looked up to her.

Rose had taken me into a different room with Major Myers. It looked as if it was a salon.

"Sit down here, Katerina." Rose demanded, placing me in front of a mirror and desk full of hair care supplies. She began to walk away until I stopped her.

"Wait!" I yelled.

"Yes?" She crossed her arms over her chest.

"What about my parents? What about Caroline?" Rose sighed and bit her lip.

"We will inform you when we know more" she paused, "and in the mean time, put this on. Changing rooms over there." She threw a pink robe to me. The robe hit me in the face and then ended up in my lap. I gave off a face of shock, but when I turned around to face Rose, she was gone. I looked around and finally saw the changing room. I took off my dress and switched into the robe, which was by no means as soft as the one I had back home. When I came out, I saw a man waiting for me at the salon chair.

"Hello." I greeted skeptically.

"Hello Katerina. My name is John Luke; I will be your stylist. Here, please sit down."

"Pick a hair and eye color, nothing close to your color now." He handed me a booklet.

"What would this be for?" I questioned flipping through the pages.

"Dying your hair and giving you colored contacts. Pick anything but brown." Dying my hair? No they would not be! I preferred my hair the way it was and I refused to let it be dyed. Once when I was eleven I asked my mom to die my hair red, but obviously her answer was no.

"No, I refused for you to be dying my hair." I blurted out.

"But Katerina—"

"No." I stubbornly announced. John Luke muttered something then walked away. I tapped my nails against the arm of the chair, I did not like these people. Minutes later, Rose walked back in.

"Katerina. You have to let us do this." She innocently looked at me. I felt like I was a little child being disciplined.

"No. My mother would not approve of it. Besides dye fades out does it not? I would not know how to re do it. I have never done such things in my life." I explained.

"I see." She tapped her heeled boot on the floor, "fine, it's a wig then." She snapped.

John Luke had put my hair up in a bun and clipped it in some kind of hat. When I asked him what it was, he said it was a wig cap. Even though I was turned away from the mirror, I figured I looked bald. I'd caught a glimpse of the wig, it was long, wavy, and a golden blonde with side bangs. I was not sure of how I was going to look since I have been a brunette all my life.

"It is made of the finest donated human hair." John Luke informed me. The disgusted look on my face made him laugh.

"Don't worry, it's been washed and went through processes to get the dirt and such out." He put it on me and began brushing it. I didn't bother answering.

"Since it's real hair, you may style it as you wish." He pointed out. I nodded. "Now lean back and open your eyes wide." He ordered. I tilted back my head and did as he said. An uncomfortable feeling was in my eye once he put something in it.

"What on earth are you doing?" I frantically asked.

"It's your colored contacts. Blink a few times and they will become comfortable." I did what he said and surprisingly he was right.

"You are right." I assumed.

"Wonderful then! Now are you ready to see the new you?" He questioned.

"Not exactly." I bit my lip. I squinted my eyes shut and waited for him to turn the chair around. When the short swivel stopped, I reluctantly opened my eyes. A blonde haired blue-eyed girl was looking back at me. When I blinked, she blinked. When I moved my hand, she moved her hand. The girl in the mirror was no one but me.

"I do not recognize myself." I told him.

"That means it's working." He gave a hearty laugh. I noticed that he had fixed up and redid my makeup. Before, it was smudge across my face and now it was perfect.

"Now go change into these." The man handed me a pile of folded clothing and pointed to the changing room my dress was hung in.

"And take off the necklace."

"No."

"You have t—"

"My mother gave this to me before I left her. I said no." I refused once more and walked off. I guess they thought a princess couldn't be so persistent. Slipping off the robe, I changed into the pair of dark jeans, a printed dark pink and black tank top, and a pair of black flats. Never in my life had I worn jeans, they were uncomfortable. The shirt was bearable but it didn't feel the same as wearing my dresses and fancy shirts. Maybe I was kidding myself; people wear this type of clothing all the time. It wasn't that bad. Caroline had a few pairs of jeans; I have seen her wear them before.

"The bottom line is, no one can know who you really are." Slater explained as I was checking out my alternative self in the mirror.

"Why?" I asked, twirling a piece of blonde hair around my finger.

"Because Lord Klaus can find you. He has ways that when one person finds out, the whole world will find out." He crossed his arms.

"Where is my brother?" I strictly asked while crossing my arms and tapping my foot. I was giving him a lot of attitude for someone who saved me last night. This was my fourth time asking them and there was still no answer. "

Why don't I take you to him?" He thought and began walking out of the room. I hesitated to follow him, but I ended up running to go catch up.

"May you please stop for one moment?" I yelled. He stopped in his tracks as I hastily caught up to him.

"Princess' don't run."

"Well, normal girls do so you're going to have to learn to do that."

"But I am no normal girl."

"Now you are."

"Excuse me?"

"There's things we need to work on. First is of course the travel location then speech, walk, identity, you know the whole story." He explained.

"Once again I repeat, excuse me?" My brows rose.

"See, you have to talk like a normal American girl."

"But I have never been to such country of America." I exclaimed.

"You speak to proper, use abbreviations of words."

"I am not quite understanding." He sighed.

"I'll explain later." He shook his head as he lead me into a large room. Two other people were standing there, a boy around my age and a woman from earlier, Vanessa.

"Elena, this is your brother Jeremy." He greeted me to the boy with jet black hair and soft green eyes. He fashioned a plain grey shirt and slacks. Fresh, clean, brand new sport sneakers were upon his feet. Brother? There was no such way this was my brother.

"My name isn't Elena, it's Katerina. And this is not my brother."

"Yes it is and well, yes it is." This couldn't be my brother. This boy looked afraid, and not once besides last night have I ever seen my brother afraid before. This was not Mason.

"Mason?" I called, his brows rose. It was him.

"No! You go by Jeremy now. Mason never was your name." Vanessa taught.

"Katerina? What did they do to you?"

"What have they done to me? What have they done to you! They changed us into different people!" The two usually brave and strong Petrova siblings were beginning to break down.

"Where are they sending you?" Mason asked.

"You? Do you not mean us?"

"Katerina…they didn't tell you?" He looked crushed.

"What? No! Major Myers! Slater! Whoever you are! Please don't separate us. This is bad enough you having to tear us away from our home then changing how we look but you can not take us away from each other."

"Elena…I'm sorry. We have to."

"No you do not! And I do not have a clue of who this Elena person is but it is sure not me!" I growled.

"We'll talk about that later. Katerina, calm down. It'll be okay."

"Are we going to see each other again?" I asked, my voice cracking.

"Yes, of course. But until we can legally take hold of Klaus you two can't keep in contact with each other or your parents."

"Can you not just go into the country and take him?" I asked.

"It's far more complicated than that."

"I just got a message from Rose. Jeremy Gilbert, we must leave now so Katerina may finish up." My heart sank.

"I will miss you Mase'." He pulled me in a hug.

"I'll see you soon little sis." A tear escaped his eye but he wiped it away. We unlocked each other from our hug and Vanessa took Jeremy away to the unknown destination.

"Be safe." I whispered.

"Elena Gilbert ." Rose pronounced clearly as she tapped her pencil on the clipboard. At the moment, you could find her, Slater, and me on a jet to America. How fun. And for the record, that is called sarcasm. Slater taught me about that. But that was all I knew. I only knew of the country I was going—America.

"Who is that?" I asked, realizing nobody else answered or said one word.

"You." She simply replied, not bothering looking up.

"Me?" I started to worry once again.

"Yes, you. Your new name, your new name that is, is Elena Gilbert. It's not Katerina Petrova until further notice. Pretend as if you were never a princess and pretend as if none of this ever happened. Whatever you do, do not tell anyone who you are and do not take the wig or your contacts off in front of anyone." I nodded my head but I didn't know how to be a normal teenager. I have been a princess all my life, I could not just stop at any second!

"What about clothing? How will I get clothing and what not?" I asked the next question that popped into my mind.

"We have one trunk load of clothing already in your duffle and the other is for person needs and care. Toothbrush, toothpaste shoes, hair care, and well, you know he rest. We will give you money to buy more clothing in town and we will also ship one other duffle filled with more clothes in about a week or two. Anyways, let's see. Look, check. Name, check. America, check. Oh here we are, your story." The woman was talking to herself.

"My story? I have stories?" I turned to her. "Elena Gilbert —"

"Which is me." I interrupted. "You are a girl from Portland, Maine. You are an only child and your parents are both doctors who are currently teaching around the United States. When you were in Maine, you went to Tara Bella High School, a public school. Your date of birth is April twenty first nineteen ninety-four." She taught.

"Okay. Elena Gilbert , only child, my parents are doctors who are on the go teaching, I resided in Maine and attended Tara Bella High School. I probably will need to write this all down." I bit my lip in frustration. The woman handed me a piece of paper with the notes already on it.

"Thank you." I whispered.

"You're going to do fine." Slater patted my knee with his hand.

"I do hope so." I sighed.

"Here." Slater pulled a small metal object out of his pocket and he handed it to me. It had headphones attached to it.

"What is this?" I examined the pink object. It had a screen on it, but nothing was happening. A large white circle was on the bottom of it. Symbols were printed in grey on it.

"It's an iPod." He said.

"iPod? What is such thing?" I asked.

"It's a music player. We already downloaded a couple hundred songs on it for you. Did you have those in your country? All the American teens have one." He watched me fiddle with it.

"I am—I'm not sure. I didn't have one." I corrected myself. The whole rest of the jet ride, Slater taught me how to speak more 'American' and how to fit in. It was quite interesting to figure out, it kept my mind off trying to find out where I was going. When the jet started to descend, the flight began choppy and it shook.

"What is going on?" I asked.

"Don't worry Elena, were just descending." The woman looked out the window. I was about to ask her who Elena was but then I remembered. I held tight to my seat, as my nerves were as tense as they have ever been. I wanted to know where I was going; I wanted to know where Mason was going. Where and how were my parents? What about Caroline, was she home and safe?

"Have any of you heard from my parents?" I looked down to my feet. Either way, I was nervous to hear a yes or no answer.

"Yeah, we have." Rose looked up. I became more alert.

"Don't worry, they'll be fine, but…" Slater held my hand but I pulled away.

"What do you mean by but?" I interrupted.

"Your father was hurt pretty badly. And your mother was taken into captivity but one of your guards retrieved her unharmed."

"Is my father going to be okay?"

"We're hoping so." Rose purse her lips, nodding to me. The jet had come to a complete stop. I unbuckled my seatbelt and practically flew out the door when it opened. We were in a large airport, but we were in a smaller part of it. Planes and people were everywhere; I've never seen so many people! But they were at least a half mile away, at least it looked like that. "Where are we?" I turned around and faced Slater.

"Chicago." He smiled.

"Where is this Chicago?"

"Illinois. Now before you ask what Illinois is, it is a state. We're in America."

"Is this what all of America looks like?" I questioned. This looked nothing like my country. The sky was over cast and it looked like it could rain at any second. There wasn't much land, buildings occupied most of it.

"Nope, every part is different." Slater was hauling my duffels out of the jet. "Well Elena, it was nice meeting you." Rose stood on the stairs of the jet. "What? Are you leaving me? Where am I to go?" I worried.

"Don't worry, Major Myers will assist you until he drops you off to your destination." She informed and bowed her head as a goodbye.

"And where is my destination?" I looked at Slater, continuing the conversation from before.

"You will find out in approximately five minutes, I promise." He assured as we walked a ways into the building. I had only been in very few airports in my life, but none were as big as this. Hundreds—thousands of people were scrambling around. People with suitcases, briefcases, and people greeting one another.

"Where is our boarding?" I rolled one of my bags with me.

"Over there." Slater pointed a few spaces down. We passed people sitting and some sleeping in the chairs. We passed a coffee kiosk and a gift store. This was fascinating, the whole concept of stores in a place where you depart from.

"Interesting, huh?" Slater could see the amusement in my eyes.

"Not exactly." I lied.


	3. We're Not In St Croatas Anymore, Elena

**A/N: chapter three lets go! Please review :] And welcome my adorable oc Matt! (Not Donovan!) **

_Chapter Three:_

_Were Not In St. Croatas Anymore, Katerina_

_Chapter Song: Where The Story Ends by The Fray_

_"If you keep hiding your true self your life become like slow death." –Ziggy Marley_

The amusement that had occupied me at the airport was gone. It had easily faded. And it dropped as I had walked out of the airport and into the car area.

"Thanks." Slater shoved a five dollar bill at the valet man. I made my way into the sleek black rental car Slater arranged for us.

"Thank you, sir." I smiled gratefully and sat myself in the car. The boy looked at me strangely before shutting the door. Soon, Slater got into the drivers seat.

"No one says sir here." He huffed.

"Sorry." I sighed.

"Just keep on practicing because we can't let anyone get suspicious."

"Yes, yes, will do. Normal American girl right here." I gave off a fake smile. Suddenly, Slater slammed on the brakes sending us flying forward then crashing back into our seat. I gasped.

"Damn drivers." He muttered under his breath.

"Are you sure you're safe driving me? I barely even trusted my drivers back home."

"Normal people don't have drivers." He reminded me. This was going to be harder than it seemed.

The car zoomed passed a 'welcome to Newport, North Carolina. Population: 4,482' sign.

"Is this an actual town?" I looked to Slater.

"Just be happy we didn't put you in the town an hour away that only had 197 people."

"I'm loving it already." I nodded, continuing on my activity of staring out the window.

"So just setting things straight here. What do you want me to call you? Slater? Lieutenant Myers? Major Myers? Because I feel like if I call you Slater, that looks like we are friends."

"Lieutenant or Major Myers would do perfectly fine." He smiled. All of the sudden, a strange ringing noise rung through out the car. My head popped up from looking out the window.

"What is that incisive ringing?"

"You've never owned a cell phone before?" He looked at me before sliding it to answer the call.

"Talk to me." He spoke into the object.

"Yes. Yes. Will do. See you soon. Goodbye." He hung up and placed the phone in the cup holder.

"Have you ever seen a cell phone before?" he asked.

"Yes, of course I have. I've just, I never had one. Caroline had one though, it looked different from that. I used it once I think. My parents didn't really believe in us having phones, my dad didn't think we needed them."

"Ah, that reminds me, we have given you a phone, and it's in your luggage. You may use it, but not to call your country. It's for your own safety. Your number is posted on a note to the back of it. Memorize it if you have to. When you make friends, you can put their own numbers in it too." He turned right.

"Thank you." How was he so sure was he that I would make friends? We now were driving through a cute little town. There were many Victorian style houses and there weren't many shops downtown. It was actually quite adorable; it was very old fashion like. A few markets, clothing stores, pharmacies, and restaurants, lined the walkways. Big trees were everywhere, they stood tall and they were covered in green leaves. I have never seen so much foliage in my life, not even the park back home had this many trees.

"This place is beautiful." I said in awe. Damn it, did I really just admit that? We were heading up town now. Now, there were very few houses and no stores at all.

"Now can you tell me where my actual destination is?" I wondered.

"Yes, now I can. You are attending the Newport Costal Academy, also known as NCA." He told me.

"Newport Costal Academy? Is this a private school?" I asked.

"Close. It's a boarding school, but you can wear your own clothing, no uniforms required." He said.

"What is this boarding school? We did not have any of those in my country." Boarding school, was this a school to be uninterested in?

"It's a privet school where students are lodged, meaning they can sleep and live there, they have dorms. Teachers teach you and you get fed breakfast, lunch, and dinner too. On weekends, you may go out or do homework. Students are slowed to go home on holidays and terms but for obvious reasons you cant." He explained.

"I have been homeschooled all my life, I'm scared to go to an actual school with actual people. My only friend back home was Caroline." The butterflies in my stomach erupted again.

"People will like you, not to worry." He didn't look at me.

"How are you sure?" I leaned back in the chair.

"Everyone has friends. You're a nice and pretty girl, you should make friends fast." I saw him smile. We drove for fifteen more minutes before a sign was in view of the Newport Costal Academy.

"Costal? Are we close to the ocean?" I asked.

"In fact, we are about fifteen twenty minutes away. Some of the students go over there on weekends." He informed me. As we pulled up to the entrance of the academy, I felt my whole attitude change. I was very fidgety and I sighed a couple of times. I bit my lip out of sheer nervousness.

"Nervous?" He opened the window before we stopped at the guardhouse. "Extremely." My voice was shaking. What if no body liked me? What if someone found out my secret? Why couldn't Caroline be here? Caroline had told me how she was not a fan of the popular and mean girls in her school. Many of them had been snobby to her. I wonder if there were mean and popular girls in this school. "John Gilbert here dropping off my niece." He flipped open a fake ID.

"Name." The guard bent down, his sunglasses falling down to the bridge of his nose when he pointed to me and bent down.

"Elena Gilbert ." I hesitated.

"Hey Jay, do we have an Elena Gilbert on the list?" He called over to the younger guard in the guardhouse who was submerged in watching a soap opera.

"Yup, got her." The big guard let us drive through.

"So this school started about a month ago." The teachers will help you catch up." he added.

"Ok." I looked out the window instead of to Major Myers.

"Elena, your going to do great. Don't worry, everything will be fine." He looked me in the eyes.

"What about you? Will I see you again?" He stopped the car in front of the big entrance doors.

"Seeing, hearing, yes. I will come and get you the moment Klaus is in our hands. I will also be checking up on you every week or so via your phone. Make sure you answer." He instructed as he unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car. The trunk popped open and he began to take my bags out.

"Thank you for everything Major Myers. It means a lot." I spoke from my heart.

"Don't worry kiddo. I'll call you in a week!" He hugged me after, "and when I'm on the phone with you, call me 'uncle John'." He whispered to me, my head nodded. I wheeled my bags up the stairs before I walked into the building. I waved to Major Myers one last time and caught as he waved back.

-line break, line break, line break-

The hallway was big, cold, and deserted. The only sounds came from my bag rolling on the carpeted floor. I had no clue of where I was supposed to go, and there was nobody I could ask in the hallway. Wonderful, I was already encountering my first problem and I had been in the building for less than a minute. A wooden door to my right had a small white sign that read 'Main Office' in black letters. Hauling my bags along with me, I walked in to find an elderly woman sitting at a desk. Big glasses hid her eyes and her grey hair was curled and short. She was typing on her computer and didn't acknowledge me until I spoke.

"Excuse me." I said politely, putting on more of an American accent then needed. Though I already had what seemed to be like an American voice (thanks to my mother and us traveling everyone constantly), I felt the need to seem 100% American. The woman looked up at me.

"Hi sweetie, how may I help you?"

"I am new here and I'm not to sure of where I'm supposed to go, would you be able to help me?" I wondered.

"Actually, you're in exactly the right place!" She chocked a laugh and began typing on her computer again. "What's your name sweetie?"

"Elena Gilbert." I hesitated, unused to the name.

"Ah, Elena. Eleventh grade, right?"

"Correct." I released the grip on my bags and put my hands by my sides.

"Well Elena, your in room 24D. Here's your schedule, let me just grab that out of the printer." Some big machine, which I assumed was the so called 'Printer' made odd noises as a sheet of paper was slowly sliding out of it. She yanked it out and handed it to me and then looked at the gold watch on her wrist.

"You know what, it's already one, classes end at four, don't bother going today.. Just spend the day unpacking, getting used to the place. But, you didn't hear it from me." She winked.

"Thank you." I bit my tongue, refraining myself from saying anymore. I folded up the piece of paper and slid it into my jean pocket.

"Do you need help with those?" She stood up, looking over the desk at my bags.

"Oh, no, it's okay, you don't need to help—" I began.

"Oh don't be silly! I'll get Matthew to help you." She waved her hand, "Matthew!" She called.

"Or sure, that works too." I whispered to myself.

"Yeah?" A boy with short dirty blonde hair and soft green eyes walked in. He looked at me and flashed a smile.

"Would you be a dear and please help Elena with her bags? She's in room 24D." She kindly instructed.

"Sure thing" He walked over to me and grabbed my other duffle. He seemed friendly, and not to mention he was king of cute.

"Nice to meet you, hun! I'll see you around. Don't hesitate to come and ask me anything." The woman waved. Matthew rolled my bag out of the office with me.

"Your new here, huh?" he asked when we walked out of the building.

"Yeah." I shyly replied. I had never spoken to a boy before, well I have but they were my servants and they were a year older than me. But I still hadn't talked to a boy my age before. A nervous feeling emitted in my stomach and I tried not to show my nervousness.

"Where from?"

"Portland." Was all I could remember at the moment, I traced my mind for what state Major Myers had told me.

"Oregon?"

"Uh, no, Maine."

"Oh. Well I think your gonna like it here, it's cool I guess."

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah. It's my third year here but I know the place pretty well. There can be jerks here but if you hang out with the right people you'll do fine."

"Encouraging. Well, hopefully I'll fit in."

"You will with ease. What's your name again?"

"Elena Gilbert, and yours?"

"Matthew Saltzman but just call me Matt, I hate when people call me Matthew." His laugh made me smile.

"Well than, nice to meet you Matt."

"Nice to meet you too?" he laughed, his stunning green eyes were staring into my fake blue ones.

"What grade are you in?" he added.

"Eleventh."

"Cool, same with me."

"Hopefully we'll have classes together."

"I hope we do." He replied back. Great! I already had a first friend here.

"Here we are, 24D." He pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked the door.

"Your lucky, you're the one of the only girls without a room mate. It's our only room left."

"That's great!" Thank you Major Myers, I silently thought.

"Yeah, I think this was the dorm advisors room but she quit a while ago and the new one lives in another building. Lucky you, it's got a bathroom and everything." Matt commented. I stepped into the room with my duffle and I was disappointed. This room was much smaller than my bedroom I was used to back home; it was ten times smaller, possibly more. It was even smaller than my closet back in the castle! I walked over to the closet and opened it; their closets weren't conjoined rooms? Was this how Americans lived?

"What's wrong?" Matt's velvet voice caught my attention.

"Oh, nothing. But, are there rooms all the same sized they are slightly small." I regretted saying anything when the words came out of my mouth.

"Nope, they're normal sized." Matt shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh." Was my genius reply. Matt set my other duffle down next to the bed.

"So, what were you doing in the main office? I thought you were a student." I sat down on the uncomfortable bed. The mattress was hard, I felt like I was sitting on the floor. But it was better than nothing.

"I'm a student but I work in the office during fifth period. My grandparents are best friends with the woman at the front desk that you met so I figured I would lend a hand, it's not as bad as everyone thinks." Matt leaned against the wall.

"That is very nice of you."

"Well, thanks." The boy had a beautiful smile.

"What tie do I have to get up for my classes? I am new to this whole thing." I looked at the digital clock with the red numbers.

"Seven if you can get ready quickly. Do you want me to set your alarm?"

"Yeah, that would be great. Wait, did you say seven? As in, seven in the morning?"

"Yeah. What time did you have to get up for your old school?"

"Eight, nine. Depended on the day."

"You get used to it, I'm used to it, it seems like normal time now. But boy do I love sleeping in. Don't worry on weekends you can sleep as much as you want."

"Thanks for setting my alarm, I'm never good with those." I've never touched one of those.

"It's really no problem." A bell that sounded almost like the clock tower back home started to ring.

"Shoot, I'm gonna be late for class. I'll see you around Elena." He waved a goodbye and shut my door. I sighed, now I was alone and I didn't have anything better to do than throw my duffels onto the bare bed and unpack. Once I unzipped the bags, clothes that were tightly packed together awaited me. Then I proceeded to unpack my new appearance.

Eventually, I decided not to go to class. Spending hours unpacking and arranging my clothes in drawers and into the small closet was tiring. Major Myers had also packed me bed linens with my clothes. Unfortunately it was a challenge to get my bed made since I had never made a bed before. But I figured it out even with its complications. During the day I had cracked the window open to get a nice breeze through the room. It was a bit stuffy. I had arranged all my hair care products in my bathroom except my brush, which I placed on the dresser right next to the mirror. Major Myers had given me the smallest jewelry case possible, and the jewelry inside it was nothing to talk about. It was nothing extravagant; no diamonds, no gold, no silver. Whatever brand it was, it seemed to be cheaply made. He had given me a few necklaces I was fond of, but the rest I wouldn't wear to much. Four hundred dollars was clipped in one of my pockets. I tucked it in a drawer to make sure nobody stole my only money. Five pairs of shoes were sitting in my closet. None were high heeled. They were sneakers, ballet flats, and sandals. Finally, when I finished taking out all the items of both duffle backs, I hid them deep in my closet. I had worked non-stop since Matt left, and I was just plain exhausted. I had never done so much work in my life! But then again I hadn't done much work before. I had maids who made my bed and packed and unpacked my suitcases from long trips. I had never done anything like that. Plopping my self down on my bed, I took the schedule out of my pocket and began reading it. I read about the different bells during the day; the breakfast bell at seven thirty, the lunch bell at twelve, and the dinner bell, which just rung, and eight. I was too nervous to eat so I decided that I would eat tomorrow at breakfast. I wasn't hungry anyways. I went back onto reading what classes I was taking. I was enrolled in the basics; Math, Science, English, Spanish, and History. Then there were also classes I have never heard of having before; free period and art. Never have I heard of art being a class. I folded my schedule back up and placed it on the night table. While searching my drawers for a nighgown, I had forgotten non were packed in there so I pulled out a pair of long stretchy pants and a tank top and changed into them in the bathroom. Once I was out, I shut off my lights but left the window open. The laughter of girls far away off campus and the voices of boys chatting away not to far from my window filled my room. I tucked myself under the covers, laid my head on the pillow, and closed my eyes waiting for sleep to drift over me. This did not feel like home one bit. Even thought it was early in the night, it felt as if it was three in the morning. I hadnt had a good night sleep in days, and I really needed one. Another light breeze blew back in from the window and gently touched my cheek. I pretended that I was at the park back home with Caroline, the wind blowing in our hair and the quietness of the area. Thinking that I was home was the only thing that got me through the night—barely. This was my first night ever gone from my family. It was my first night ever alone in a new country, helpless and confused. If the loneliness' didn't kill me, this secret would.


End file.
